Meet and Part
by Guro
Summary: A Digimon/Houshin Engi X-over. For readers who have read the Houshin Engi manga. Contians OOC-ness, shonen-ai, AU.
1. When We Went

**Meet and Part**

--Houshin Engi/Digimon crossover fanfic.

--Written by graffiti. (6/12/2002 – 12/12/2002)

--Warnings for shonen-ai, language, OOCness, and AU.

--Spoilers for Houshin Engi manga volume 13 and above. This fic is strictly based on the manga.

--Spoilers for Digimon 02.

--Disclaimers: Houshin Engi is© Fujisaki Ryu, Digimon is owned by Bandai, yadda yadda.

Hello, minna-san! This is my second fic I've posted at ff.net to boot, so please be gentle with the reviews. My first fic was _Dear Muraki…_ from the anime Yami no Matsuei, which wasn't very good, so to speak, and it died after two chapters… but we won't go into that now ^^; I do accept pointers, and if you guys think that there are places I should improve on, feel free to tell me. 

Now, how the heck did I get this idea of writing a crossover fic using two very different anime? *grin*Honestly speaking, I don't know. But I'll put it this way; just a few weeks ago I would never had thought of EVER writing a fan fic, forget posting it here, as I wasn't quite confident with my writing skills, grammar and vocabulary ect. My only focus was fanart (which is the only thing I'm good at XD). But then articflames encouraged me to give it a try, and plus the fact that she herself was a successful fanfic writer, I decided, heck, just write something and chuck it up at ff.net and see what happens. I was quite surprised when I received reviews the next day. People were kind and didn't flame. So after some thinking, I decided to do more, however lousy my writing skill is :P

Sometime between that, I was lounging around the Houshin no Miko's website and found their sweet lil' fic, _Deai^2_ (it's a great fic, you have to read it if you're a true HE fan). That's where I got the inspiration to write a Houshin Engi fic (and yes, there will be bits of _Deai^2_-ness in this fic). But then I didn't know what to write about, so the idea was over the waterfall and forgotten :) Then later, for some reason (been listening to Tenka's songs too much, I think), the image of Tenka with a guitar (hint, hint) kept on popping into my head. To me, guitar=Yamato-sama (SWOON!!!), and thus this crazy crossover fic was born was born.

Please note that I have not seen the episodes in the middle of the anime yet; I never really liked it anyway, compared to the manga.

The readers are starting to chuck rotten eggs at me… Eheheheh…

Anyway, this story happens after Taikoubou disappears after Jyoka is defeated and Youzen takes over Senninkai. One day the cast of Houshin Engi getting warped into the modern world of Digimon. They meet the characters of Digimon, and gradually start to become friends. (I know, you must be thinking, "Damn! Not another one of _those_ fics again!? But I'll try to make it as interesting as possible :D) Err…I haven't thought of any good vs. evil plots yet, but somewhere through the fic there probably will be some conflicts. Here's a tip off: some of the characters who have been houshin'ed will be reappearing in this fic ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ And I won't tell you the shonen-ai pairings yet, cuz if I did, the story might get predictable. Mwahwahwahwa.

Have I got you interested now? Yosh, now you can stop your egg-throwing and start reading the fic!

Dozo!

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**_Meet and Part – Chapter one _**

**When we went**

Youzen sighed as he placed the last of the documents on top of a tall stack of neatly arranged papers on his table. Sighing, he threw his brush at the wall across the room in both relief and frustration and slumped onto his office desk. 

Youzen had been in charge of the Senninkai for six months now. And since the first day all he was given to do was paperwork. Signing contracts, reading complaints, and writing reports on insignificant and seemingly pointless issues were all in a day's work, if he was lucky enough to be able to finish them in a day. Straightening himself, he flexed his fingers and aching neck. He decided to take a little walk to relax and have some rest. After all, having to sign documents continuously for hours since he woke up, however little effect, did have its strain on Youzen's mental and physical strength. As he stood up from his seat and headed limply towards the door, Bukichi came crashing in with a tall stack of papers. "That's the forth time today," Youzen thought, as he stepped to the side and narrowly avoided the boy who apparently couldn't see anything in front of him as his view was blocked by the large pile of papers he carried. Before Bukichi crashed into the wall, Youzen gently caught his arms and steered him towards his desk. Helping the boy to heave the burden onto the desk, he asked warily, "Who are these from this time?"

"They're from Genshitenson-sama desu, Youzen-sama." Bukichi replied with a cheerful grin. Not for the first time that day, Youzen sighed. "Not again…" For a moment, he almost felt suspicious that Genshitenson was giving him all this work just to make his life miserable. Pushing the idea of sticking his Sansendou through the old geezer to the back of his head (1), Youzen smiled his thanks at Bukichi and motioned for him to be excused. 

"Ano, Youzen-sama…" Bukichi stopped before the door and turned around. The usual smile on his face was replaced by a concerned expression as he silently studied Youzen's face. "It's probably none of my business…but won't you like to take a rest? I mean, you look really of tired……"

Youzen smiled bitterly to himself as he gazed back at Bukichi. So, his weariness was that obvious that even Bukichi could sense it. "Yes, I do want to, Bukichi. But unfortunately," he gestured to the piles of paper on his desk, which had just increased with the new stack Bukichi brought in. "With all this work, I'm afraid I won't be able to."

Bukichi nodded his understanding, his clear eyes reflecting the sympathy he felt towards the leader of Senninkai. He bowed and exited the room, softly closing the door behind him. Youzen felt some comfort at Bukichi's concern. At least there were people who cared. "Thank you," he muttered under his breath. Then, turning back to his desk to continue with the paperwork, the weight returned to his heart, ever so heavier than before. "Why did I accept this job in the first place…" he wondered. Well, it didn't seem so bad when Genshitenson-sama first introduced him to it. Once again he felt like beating the hell out of that supposedly "highly respectable" ojisan. "WHY did I let him talk me into this...?"

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            "So, Youzen actually ordered you to make this thing?" Tenka pointed at the square-shaped machine, which, like all other machines that were made by Taiitsu, was very weird looking, and planted a certain amount of fear in the people who saw them.

            "Yes, Tenka. He said he needed something to help him get rid of all the unwanted paper in his office, since he had quite a lot of it. So I suggested maybe a paper shredder could help him, and he agreed. Though I have no idea why he wanted me to make him such a big one… Normally a paper shredder less than half this size should be necessary for a small office like Youzen's (2)." 

"Actually I was planning on doing something else, something like a Weapon Detacher to take off Nataku's paopei, by force if needed…" Taiitsu trailed off as he screwed another bolt into place. "That kid's been getting a little too active these days. You'd think that after the war he should've cooled down, like everyone else. But no, he comes to me in the middle of my work, points his Kasensou at me and says, 'I'm bored. I need something to blow up. Two days.' and just flies away, like he doesn't give a damn about whether I live or not!" 

            Tenka sweatdropped as Taiitsu ripped off a wrongly done part of the machine with his bare hands. He decided it wasn't a good idea to interrupt Taiitsu as he rambled on and on, dismantling half of the machine he had just built. He turned towards his shishou, who winked at him, and Tenka replied him with a grin. The strange relationship between Taiitsu and Nataku was well known in the Senninkai. Although the two always had conflict between them, everyone knew that the shishou and his disciple cared more for each other than they showed (3). The fact that the blowing up and blasting between Nataku and Taiitsu were becoming less frequent was also a good sign. 

            "Well," Doutoku Shinkun stood up and started to walk towards the door. "I'll be going out for some exercise now, Taiitsu-shitei. Drop by anytime you're free." He waved to the sennin who was still fuming and not hearing a word he said. "And Tenka," The boy looked up at his shishou inquiringly. "Be careful." He flashed Tenka a smile. "I'll be back at the Houshindai by noon. If you're looking for me, I'll be hanging around Bai He Shan (4).

            Tenka smiled wryly after Doutoku's retreating figure. He knew what his shishou's last words meant. Taiitsu was also quite famous for destruction of his own laboratory, often caused by accidental wiring errors or simple fusing. There was an unspoken rule that anyone who entered Taiitsu's laboratory should always be on the alert, should an unwanted incident occur anytime. Even though Tenka was already a Houshin'ed spirit, he didn't quite like the image of the ceiling crashing down on him (5).

            Tenka and Doutoku had come to Taiitsu's place for a visit. Youzen had set a new rule that the spirits from the Houshindai were allowed to roam freely in the Senninkai (without any intentions of destroying Senninkai or wrecking havoc and the like), under the condition that they would reside in the Houshindai as their home. Needless to say, the spirits were pleased. Although there were friends and family together with them at the Big Rock (something which Tenka thought was quite ironic), they preferred to join their friends among the living once in a while. 

Tenka enjoyed going on walks with Bukichi and Suupusyan, simply chatting and running around on the grass fields of Konron 2. Occasionally they would pay Youzen a visit, and despite his busy schedule, Youzen always welcomed them.

            Yep. Life was good, even as a spirit.

            "Tenka, would you pass me the graphs on the shelf?" Taiitsu had calmed down and was busy repairing the damage he had inflicted himself. "That shelf on the left; you'll see some blue paper on the top shelf."

            Tenka brought the graphs to him. As he stood beside Taiitsu observing the paper in his hand, the words and numbers written along the sides simply looked like random scribbling to him. Munching on his cigarette, he decided that paying Taiitsu a visit wasn't as fun as he expected. Since Taiitsu was entirely focused on the 'paper shredder' thing, he knew that nothing he said would reach the working sennin. He had no knowledge whatsoever of engineering or machinery, and he wouldn't be able to do much even if he offered to help. Not that Taiitsu didn't welcome them; in fact the scientist seemed happy when they dropped by, but he understood that once Taiitsu got interested in a certain thing, he would sacrifice days working on it. 

            "Taiitsu-susuu, you mind if I look around?" 

He was replied with a muffled 'Yeah, sure'. Standing up, he glanced aimlessly around him. Everywhere he looked, the tables and walls were covered with strange gadgets and graphs. A huge screen on the left wall caught his eye, and he walked towards it, being careful not to step on any of the tools placed untidily on the floor.

The screen was about four feet wide, and held a blue tinge where the light shone on it. Buttons and wires ran beside it, and Tenka noticed that a red light was blinking below the line of buttons. "Taiitsu-susuu, what's this?"

He was surprised when Taiitsu actually turned away from the paper shredder and looked at him. "Oh that? It's a communication device. Used to, at least." He took off his goggles and stood beside Tenka. "It was supposed to be a communication device to the Ningenkai. Some time back Youzen had some doushi check on the Ningenkai once in a while, and I made this so that we could communicate with the doushi down there. I've installed another one in the Ningenkai, and it's been working just fine. But since a few weeks ago it started to break down. I've checked it a few times but I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. I wanted to do more research on it, but the others suggested that I just let it be. You'd think they were afraid that I would blow it up or something. Mou, doesn't anyone have confidence in me? Even after I rebuilt Konron they still doubt me!"  

Tenka sweatdropped again as tears ran down Taiitsu's face. The sennin was posed in a light, his hand clasped before his chest dramatically. Then, as suddenly as he had made the pose, Taiitsu's expression turned serious. 

"Somehow I think they're right. I don't feel I want to mess around with something I'm not sure of." Tenka blinked at the sudden change of expression. "Especially when it's something this size." He stared thoughtfully at the screen, and turned to look at Tenka. "Don't touch it. I don't know what might happen if this thing messes up."

Tenka nodded, "Daijoubu yo. I wouldn't touch it if my life depended on it (which was just the case)." Taiitsu glared at him. The boy smiled sheepishly and shrugged. Sighing, Taiitsu returned the smile and laid a hand on Tenka's shoulder. "Anyway, I'm sorry if you and Doutoku felt uncomfortable. It's just that I can't take my eyes off a machine once I've started on it." 

Tenka grinned at him. "Nah. We're fine. We know how much you like doing what you do best."

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            "Tenka-oniisan!!!"

            A voice was heard outside the laboratory. As Tenka and Taiitsu turned to look at the owner of the voice, Bukichi came crashing through the door (again ^_^;). Behind him was Suupusyan, who was panting heavily.

            "Bukichi-kun! Chotto matte suu~!" 

            "Bukichi! Don't run in my laboratory!"

            Two voices shouted as the redhead sped towards Tenka. "Tenka-oniisan, I've been looking all over for you! Doutoku Shinkun-san said that you were here, so Suupu-chan and me came here!" 

            Tenka's eyes widened as Bukichi launched himself at him. "Bukichi! Stop!" 

It was too late. Tenka lost his balance and crashed into the wall, bringing Bukichi with him. 

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            " Taiitsu Shinjin, I've come to see if to see if you're done with the paper shredder…" 

            Youzen gasped when he saw Tenka crash into the wall.  Instinctively he ran towards them. "Tenka! Wha--" 

            He stopped mid sentence as a bright light surrounded them. Shielding his eyes, Youzen felt himself falling to the ground. Suddenly the light disappeared, and he drifted into a world of darkness. 

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Author's babbling:

Finally! Chapter one is finished! After days of typing and correcting and typing and correcting… WHEW! I never knew writing fanfics would be so hard!

^_^ Yes, it took me days to finish this sucker. One reason was because I had to push myself to "GO TYPE IT OUT DAMMIT!!!"  because everytime I touched the PC all I would think is _Internet Internet Internet_ ^_^;

And then there were parts of the story where I would ask myself, "Are you sure this person did this?" or "Did this really happen?" because I was so unsure if I got the story right according to the manga. Twenty three volumes are a lot to remember :P That's why I re-read the whole series :P

Anyway I hope this chapter doesn't turn out to be too crappy ;_; I've got at least six more chapters to write and less than a month left of my holiday. When school starts next year, I'll be too occupied with my exams (CURSE YOU PMR!!!!! I HATE FORM THREE!!!!!) And then I still have to work on my fanart and CGs; lately I stopped drawing because of this recent fanfic writing hype :D And then there's my sudden obsession over Tenka… ^_^ The cast of Digimon will be appearing in the next chapter… stay tuned! There'll be some angsty scenes later regarding various personal issues of the characters… and maybe I might be adding some lemon for the shonen-ai couples XD

Yeah, please review! Reviews and comments from readers are important to the author so that he/she can write better, and know what to put in the following stories. So please drop a review, comment or opinion for me, even if it's criticism. Domo arigatou gozaimas!

Footnotes:

(1) Nyahahahaha… guess I forgot to tell ya about any G-sama bashing ^_~ Sorry G-sama fans *bows*. And yes, I do think Youzen will be happy to thrash him around :D

(2) Mwahwahwahwa!!! What? You don't think ouji-sama will throw ALL the paper into the machine? Youzen can do ANYTHING if he's pissed off, no?

(3) As much as I like the two of them, Taiitsu/Nataku will not be the main pairing of this fic. Gomen to the fans…

(4) Bai He Shan = Bai He Mountain. Bai He is a type of flower, usually white in color, and has a nice fragrance (forgot the English name for it ;_;). Bai He Shan is just a name I randomly thought of.

(5) I know nothing about the spirits that are sealed in the Houshindai. I don't know if they can be touched, if they can get physically hurt, if they are semi-transparent (err, not), if they can float all over the place like ghosts. But anyway, who would want to get squashed by a ceiling?


	2. When They Came

Weeeeeeeee……chapter 2 is up! After days of resting (I do dat a lot :P) I finally got myself to start on the second chapter. Actually I was doing some research on the HE manga, cuz I noticed that when I set the story I had overlooked some very important factors. So I did some rearranging and correcting, and now, hopefully, I'll be able to continue with this fic.

The cast of Digimon will be appearing in this chapter (YAY!). In their world, this story happened two years after the downfall of Digimon Kaizer, meaning that the Digidestinied from the first season are 16 years old (with the exception of Koshiro, Mimi and Jou; I group Takeru and Hikari as Digidestinied from the second season), and Daisuke and company will be mainly around the age of 13 (starting junior high! Yippee!)

I use the original names of the characters because I think that that way the names wouldn't sound too out of place when the cast of Houshin Engi appear. Just imagine; Chinese names from ancient China/English names of current century… weird…… It's not that I don't like their dub names, but Chinese and Japanese do mix better XD

Disclaimers: Houshin Engi, Digimon, all NOT mine. Bleh.

Warnings: OOC. AU. Shonen-ai: Hints of Daisuke and Ken pairing… for this chapter :D Takari and Taito implied. 

Chapter 2

**When they came**

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****Takeru stared blankly at the monitor before him. Streams of different colors ran over the screen, forming various shapes and sizes. 

He leaned forward and tapped on the keyboard. Digital numbers appeared, mixing with the colors, and suddenly the whole screen went black.

Takeru slammed a fist on the table and leaned back into his chair with a sigh, letting his head rest against the soft fabric. He lifted a hand and laid it on his forehead, trying to calm the heavy pounding in his head. "This isn't good…" 

--Yesterday--

Takeru ran towards the telephone as it ringed loudly, a towel draped around his waist, his footsteps leaving small puddles of water on the floor. "Great. The phone just had to ring when I'm in the shower. Alone at home." Mumbling under his breath, he picked up the receiver and pressed it against his ear.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Takeru-san? Koshiro desu."

"Koshiro senpai? Hi! What's up?" Takeru smiled and pushed all unpleasant thoughts to the back of his head. "Miyako-san tried to contact you with the Digivice but noone answered, so I'm using the phone now…Anyway, can you come over? We're having a meeting in ten minutes at my place." Koshiro's reply was rushed and desperate.

Takeru blinked at the sudden invitation. "Why? What's wrong?" He didn't like the worried tone in Koshiro's voice. "I'll explain later when everyone gets here…Ah, Iori-san and Daisuke-san are here already." Takeru noted the slight relief as Koshiro spoke the last sentence. Things seemed pretty serious.

"Ah. I'll be there ASAP."

"Yokatta. Please hurry." 

Takeru put down the receiver and rushed towards his bedroom. As he dressed, he started to wonder what had happened to make Koshiro so concerned. The last time the Digidestinied had to call a meeting to discuss such issues was almost two years ago, when Diaboromon returned to take revenge on his brother and Taichi. Yes, he was starting to worry. 

Before heading out the door, Takeru stopped by the kitchen. He grabbed a pencil from the drawers and scribbled on a piece of paper. Leaving it on the kitchen counter, he stopped for a while to glance at the paper, before turning and running out.

'Kaasan, I have to go out for a while. Koshiro senpai just called and I think something has happened. I don't know when I'll be back, but don't worry. I'll call you when I can.'

--10 minutes later--

Takeru panted heavily as he fumbled with the doorbell. When the door opened, Hikari smiled and greeted him. "Takeru, I'm glad you came. Hurry, everyone's in Koshiro senpai's room." He smiled back at her and followed Hikari along the corridors.

Taichi and Yamato waved to him as he stepped inside Koshiro's room. Flashing a smile at the others and stopping to give Mimi a hug (1), he took a seat beside his brother on the floor and tried to catch his breath. "So, what happened?"

Yamato shrugged. "Koshiro didn't tell us. He wanted to wait for everyone to be here first. So happens that you're the last one to reach here." He grinned and elbowed Takeru in the ribs gently. "Since when did you beat Daisuke in being late?" Takeru glared at him. "I was in the shower, okay?"

His glare disappeared when Yamato reached out a hand to ruffle his blonde locks (2). "Sorry. I was just kidding. I know your habit of taking a shower in the late morning. That's when the phone likes to ring the most."

Takeru sighed but returned the smile. "Mm. Guess I really have to change my schedule." 

The sound of the door closing softly was heard. Silence settled over the room as Koshiro plopped onto his chair at the computer, his childlike face suddenly hard and serious. "Now that everyone's here, I have something to inform you all of."

Takeru bit his bottom lip as a heaviness formed in his heart. A veil of dread and worry hung over the small bedroom. Everyone had their own ideas about what Koshiro was about to tell them. 'Hopefully he's just freaking out about his computer,' thought Takeru wryly. Heck, if it meant that peace on both worlds would stay unaffected, he'd rather have Koshiro become a freak. 

Suddenly a small smile formed on Koshiro's lips. "But first, I'd like to thank everyone for coming. Mimi, I'm sorry that you had to fly here all the way from America…" Mimi flashed him the victory sign. "Daijoubu, this isn't the first time anyway." She gave them the brightest smile she could do. "Besides, if I get to see you guys, I'd come anytime!" 

The uneasiness vanished momentarily. Everyone was feeling considerably better after Mimi tried to cheer them up with her unquenchable genkiness.

"Okay, now that everyone has stopped feeling like tomorrow's the end of the world," Koshiro's eyes softened and he was once again the dear baby face everyone loved (3). "Let's get down to business."

Satisfied that everyone in the room was listening, he turned to his computer. As he started clicking on his mouse, a graph appeared on the screen. Wavy lines streamed across the graph, and streams of numbers consisting of '0' and '1' dotted the sides. "Yesterday I was on the internet when my Digivice started to glow. As we all know, our Digivices react to things related to the Digital World. So I figured that maybe something was wrong and did some researching with the computer. So after some scanning, I discovered this."

After a few clicks of the mouse another graph appeared, this one larger than the last, but the lines were more disordered and ranged at different lengths, often crossing each other's paths. "These lines represent digital waves, streams of data that exist in the link portal between our world and the Digital world." He brought out the smaller graph and dragged it beside the larger one. "As you can see, the lines on this graph seem to be disturbed. Usually the digital waves should be organized, as each of them has their own paths."

"It looked quite unusual, so I did more research. After a few hours I didn't get anything. But one thing's for sure; someone, or something in the Digital World is upsetting the balance between our world and the Digital world. According to our past experiences, usually it has something to do with a dark force trying to take over the world and the like," Koshiro stated a-matter-of-factly. Ken lowered his head and looked to the side. From the corner of his eye, Koshino saw Daisuke lay a hand on Ken's, and the two hands clasped tightly together.

Koshiro kicked himself mentally. He shouldn't have brought up the subject. "But this might not be the case," he announced, unconsciously trying to help the person whom he had upset. The group exchanged surprised glances at his last remark. "How so?" Taichi asked, echoing the thoughts of others in the room. 

Koshiro grinned slightly. He could understand why all of them were surprised at the fact that a being supposedly powerful enough to effect the delicate balance between the two worlds would not be interested in taking control over the world(s). They had battled so many evil Digimon, all with one goal, and that was, well, to bring both worlds into darkness and be ruler of all. Afterall, most evil Digimon _are_ powerful, he thought wryly.

"If someone, or something really wants to take over the world, the balance would be totally destroyed, and what we would see in the graph would be something resembling a bird's nest. In this case however, the waves still look relatively stable. It's just a guess, but I think that for once, we found a 'thing' that isn't bent on becoming king."

The others nodded silently. "Well," a relieved sigh escaped Daisuke's lips and a sloppy grin appeared on his face. " I guess we have nothing to worry about, ne?"Koshiro kept his smile. Daisuke had not let go of Ken all this while.

"Unfortunately, no."The group chuckled as Daisuke fell flat on his face. "What..d'ya mean, Koshiro-senpai?"The redhead asked, lifting a hand to rub his bruised nose. Koshiro suppressed a grin as Ken encircled his arms around Daisuke's free arm, an overly concerned expression on his face as he glanced worriedly at the boy beside him. 

You should be thinking of what to answer him, not spying on the lovebirds, Koshiro told himself, shaking his head. "What I mean is, even though said 'thing' does not want to take over worlds, it's still upsetting the balance between the two worlds. That could mean trouble, and we should be checking on it, should it prove to be dangerous." 

Daisuke sighed again, but his grin widened. "Can't say I'm happy about this…" He stood up, resting a hand on his waist. "But I was hoping for something interesting to happen. This may sound ironic, but after a few years of peace life does start to get boring. Finally we get to kick some ass again!" He punched a fist into the air enthusiastically, always the cheerful one.

"Matte, Daisuke-san. I never said that we had to battle, yet." The redhead blinked. "Eh?"

"We don't know a thing about that someone or something. Who knows, there might not be anything at all!" 

"But…how would you explain those funny waves then?" The boy pointed at the computer.

"Extreme weather conditions might also affect the Digital waves (although that hasn't happened before)."

"Surely if the weather was bad the Digimon would have told us about it!"

"Digimon don't know everything, Daisuke-san. Besides, they haven't said anything about the unusual patters of the Digital waves. They might not even know about it yet."

"Then…what are we supposed to do?" The boy's voice was getting fainter.

"Research, of course. It's always important to know the enemy before dealing with them." Koshiro turned towards the others, ignoring the fact that Daisuke looked like he was ready to kill. "Taichi-san, Yamato-san, Takeru-san and Kyoko-san, you guys will be in charge of doing more research with the computers about this case with me. We will use the school's computers since one of them is the portal and we'd be able to collect more information. The others will go to the Digital World to see if anything looks unusual there. Please take care when you guys enter the Digital World. Avoid any unnecessary battles if possible." He stood up and headed to the door, smiling cheerfully as he went. "Saa, lets go!"

Koshiro's smile did not falter as Daisuke fell to the floor once again.

--End of flashback—

The hands of the clock pointed to two in the morning. Takeru sat up and stared at his computer. The screen was still blank but he didn't care. That was the fifteenth time his computer crashed, and he didn't bother to restart it. Leaving the computer, he stood up and glanced around him. Sitting at another computer near his was the one who was responsible for his coming to the school's computer room. The person had his head resting on the table, and soft breathing sounds were heard. He smiled idly at the redhead. 'Dammit, Koshiro-senpai. Way to get people worried with that voice of yours on the phone. Didn't look _that_ concerned at the meeting. Now you leave all the work to me.' Despite the sarcastic thoughts, he switched off the monitor and decided not to wake him up. After all, they _had_ been here since morning.

He sighed softly and looked to another table. Hikari and Miyako were also asleep, both in similar positions like Koshiro. Quietly he walked towards them. His eyes softened as they laid on Hikari. The girl was sound asleep, and looked comfortable despite sleeping on a computer desk. He smiled like he always did whenever he saw her. He didn't know why, but it warmed him to see her gentle face, her smile, and to hear her soft voice through the air. 

He pulled off his jacket. Gently he reached out and covered her with it. He stopped as she stirred softly, but settled down again. After switching off her computer's monitor, he turned off some off the lights in the room as well. 

Sitting back down in his chair, his let his thoughts drift aimlessly. 'Where are oniisan and Taichi? They should be back by now… It shouldn't take so long to get to the shops…'

Just then the door slid open softly, and Taichi and Yamato carried some bags into the room. "Sorry we took so long… the only shop we could find open was Seven Eleven. All the other shops are closed at this hour." Taichi grinned apologetically at him as he handed Takeru a Coke. Yamato pulled a chair to join them. "Dad just called me on the phone again… asked for the sixth time if we needed any help. Told me mom was worried about us." Takeru chuckled. "Yeah, she almost freaked out when I told her that I wouldn't be home tonight. She wasn't very happy when I noted that it had something to do with the Digital World." Yamato laughed lightly. 

"Anyway," Taichi stifled a yawn. "We oughta get some sleep soon. I don't really feel like staying up all night, especially when we've had our faces stuck to the monitor for hours." Yamato smiled at him. "We're lucky it's the school holidays now, or else we couldn't stay here for the night. You can sleep if you like. I can still stay up for a couple of hours. Don't want to leave you by yourself," he turned to his brother.Takeru shook his head. "Ie. You should get some rest too. I really don't mind being be myself." He pasted a smile on his lips. 

"Demo…daijoubu desu ka?" Yamato didn't look like he liked the idea of leaving his brother alone.

"Hai, hai, daijoubu yo." Takeru stood up and cheerfully pushed the two older boys towards a small couch by the wall. "Oyasuminasai!" After nudging the two boys to sit down, he scuttled back to his computer across the room. Yamato shook his head but smiled after him. He leaned onto Taichi's welcoming embrace and they settled down for the night.

Takeru smiled to himself when he heard the two snoring gently. Taking another sip of his Coke, he stretched his arms and with a sigh, dug into the Digital matrix of data. 

Hikari opened her eyes and blinked. She sat up and the jacket dropped from her shoulders. Picking it up, she realized that it was Takeru's. Smiling, she clasped it to her heart lovingly in gratitude as her eyes set on the sleeping boy at the desk beside hers.

Koshiro was awake and about, walking around the room to check on the computers. "Ohayou, Koshiro-senpai," Hikari greeted him. He returned a smile to her and continued with his tour around the room, lifting the curtains and opening the windows as he went. Golden sunlight followed his silent footsteps, bringing a cheerful glow to the room. Hikari joined Miyako who was at the other end of the room, preparing breakfast with the products Taichi and Yamato had bought last night.

Koshiro stopped before Taichi and Yamato, still tangled in each other's arms. He shook his head with a smile.

"Taichi-san, Yamato-san…" he whispered, gently shaking the couple awake. A pair of eyelids fluttered open, revealing eyes of deep blue. Yamato blinked slowly, trying to adjust his eyes to the morning sunlight streaming through the windows. "Ohayou, Yamato-san."

The blonde boy rubbed his eyes softly, but returned the greeting. "What time is it…?" he drawled, his voice still raspy from sleep. 

"It's seven in the morning. I hope you had a good night's sleep."

"I think I did… although only for a few hours…" Yamato untangled himself from Taichi's arms and attempted to wake his lover up. Taichi mumbled something incoherently and tightened his arms around Yamato, bringing a blush to the blonde's cheeks.

Koshino chuckled and decided to leave the couple to themselves, and padded over to a sleeping Takeru amidst Yamato's soft words of protest. 

Everyone was awake by the time Miyako announced that breakfast was ready. Takeru staggered drowsily to the large table which was laid with sandwiches and biscuits. "Ara, Takeru! What happened to you?" Yamato asked his brother. Takeru slumped heavily onto a chair, letting his face fall smack onto the table. Yamato grinned cheerfully. "'Knew you couldn't wake up the next morning. You were never good at staying up late."

All he got as a reply was a muffled groan. Yamato didn't bother to hide his smile.

"Hmm?" Hikari sat up straight and stared curiously at the computer monitor. Something was wrong with the Digital portal; its image was warped, as ripples spread over it, blurring, combining…

"Ko…Koshiro-senpai!" The redhead snapped his head sharply at the mention of his name. "The…The Digital portal…it's…" Koshiro rushed over to Hikari and stared at the screen, his eyes widening in surprise and fear. 

"What is it?" The others had crowded over Hikari's desk in curiosity, each trying to have a peek at the monitor. Koshiro's hand trembled nervously as it rested on Hikari's shoulder. "Everyone…" he spoke, worry lacing his voice. "Stay back! Something's coming out of the portal!"

Taichi grabbed Hikari's arm and dragged her out of the chair. As everyone scrambled away from the computer, a bright light emerged from the computer; the Digidestinied covered their eyes as a blinding white light flashed before them. Hikari shut her eyes tightly, curling up against Taichi as he pulled her close. 'Please…please, let noone be hurt……'

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--!!!"

A terrified scream forced her to open her eyes despite the painfully blinding brightness. 'IYAAAA…!'

She buried her face deeper into her brother's shoulder, muffling her sobs as she cried. 'No…no……'

Suddenly the white light faded away, and the room seemed so dark despite the continuous sunlight beaming through the windows. "Hikari…are you hurt?" Hikari lifted her head at Taichi's gentle voice. His dark almond eyes were filled with worry, but they softened as he realized that his sister was okay. Gently he wiped her tears away with his thumb, soothing her with soft words of comfort. It never occurred to him that his sister, Hikari, the child of Light, could be so afraid of the symbol she was chosen as.

"Aaaa! Koshiro-senpai!" Taichi followed the direction Miyako was pointing at; the girl's jaw was wide open in shock. He too mirrored Miyako when he saw what lay in front of him.

A pile of bodies lay in a heap on the floor; three, no, four bodies, Taichi counted, as his eyes strayed downwards…and at the bottom of the pile, was Koshiro (4).

A/N:

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa finally it's doneeeeeeeeeeee…..

Took me long enough -_-;

Anyway, the Digimon characters have already appeared in this chapter! Aren't you happy? Ne? Ne?

*Ahem* Anyway…in the things will be explained, like what happened to the HE characters ect ect… Unfortunately, school will be starting next week, so I doubt that there'll be another chapter anytime soon… but please tell me if you like this fic! All reviews will be greatly appreciated! Oh, I've got some hastily-done drawings of the characters of how they're supposed to look like in my fic…and I can tell you, Yamato looks HOT with long hair…and earrings WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *gets struck by lightning* If anyone wants to see the drawings, just send me an e-mail and I'll be glad to send it to you ^o^ *struck by lightning again* 

PS: Anyone like the pairings in this chappie?

Footnotes:

(1)Mimi just came back from America…don't you think she deserves one?

(2)MWAhwahwa brotherly l.o.v.e!!!!! XDXDXD

(3)Doesn't he just make you wanna hug him?! *squeezes Koshiro to death* *gets hit with a chair*

(4)Ever noticed…that Koshiro's always the one who ends up at the bottom whenever the character fall in a heap? One of those times was in the episode (forgot the name) when Wormmon dies. Yes, I wanna torture our dear sweet Koshi XD


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